Apple Inc (AAPL)

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On the heels of Best Buy adding more AAPL:

The nation's top electronics retailer is pulling away from the competition by improving its stores, staffing with well-trained employees and focusing on the customer. Its latest earnings show that the company is indeed a best buy.

If there were ever any questions about the importance of focusing on the customer, they were answered in Best Buy's (BBY, news, msgs) fourth-quarter earnings report.

The nation's top electronics retailer blew away its competition despite an increasingly tough economy. Its earnings soared 20% on a 21% jump in sales, and same-store sales were up by an impressive 5.9%, beating both the company's and Wall Street's expectations. Clearly, Best Buy's focus on customer satisfaction, combined with its aggressive pricing strategy, worked.

Who was the big loser? Chief rival Circuit City Stores (CC, news, msgs), which announced a quarterly loss of 7 cents a share despite a 1.2% sales gain. Sales at stores open at least a year fell by 0.5% compared with very strong results a year ago. With Circuit City replacing many of its sales associates with less expensive hourly workers in what looks to be yet another ill-fated restructuring, the gap between these two electronic retailers should widen.

Constantly improving customer service
Best Buy succeeds where others fail because of management's current commitment to constantly improving the customer experience. A few years back Best Buy suffered from a reputation of poor service, as its stores were understaffed and the staff undertrained. But management listened and adopted a core strategy dubbed "customer centricity."